


Lizzie Edits

by BronzyBow



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: F/M, Pemberley arc, Pemberly Arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-15
Updated: 2013-04-09
Packaged: 2017-12-05 09:38:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/721588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BronzyBow/pseuds/BronzyBow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Although it isn't in-universe canon, the creators of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries have said that they imagine that Lizzie was editing the videos during her time at Pemberley Digital.  These chapters are my little head canons as to her thought process during editing and other events that took place. LIKELY TO REMAIN UNFINISHED</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Cut From Wishing Something Universal

**Author's Note:**

> I know the formatting looks terrible, I'll try for something better in the other chapters, (which should be up pretty soon as I'm nearly done writing them). 
> 
> Also, this is my first fan-fiction ever, so if you've got a comment about this story, let me hear it!

“On my way to... Pemberley Digital. Why does that sound familiar?” Lizzie turned to Charlotte. Charlotte scratched her head.  
“You don’t remember?” Charlotte asked with a measured tone. Lizzie suddenly recalled an evening from last June at Bing’s house. Jane was playing cards with Bing and Caroline while Lizzie was reading. At least, she was trying to read, but she had to make do with giving a stink eye stare at William Darcy, who was halfway across the room making a phone call that was getting louder and louder until he was forced to excuse himself from the vicinity.  
And she suddenly recalled his voice from the blocked memory saying, “No deal. Pemberley Digital will not acquiesce your product unless you adhere to our terms.” Pemberley Digital...  
“You’re kidding me. Right?” Lizzie looked at Charlotte with wide eyes, hoping that she would say that she’s dreaming, or that this was a joke email, or something other than just shaking her head no and confirming that Pemberley Digital is infact William Darcy’s company. Lizzie told Charlotte that she was going to need to make some phone calls and shut off the camera.

\---

After Charlotte had coerced her into telling Darvid’s side of Batman’s story, Lizzie was not going to mention Darcy on her videos ever again. No costume theaters, no insults, nothing. Yeah, she was still a hell of a lot angry at him for everything he had done, but the letter had brought events to light that, well, she wasn’t quite sure what to think about him anymore.  
And she wasn’t going to think about him. Ever. But now Lizzie was sitting at her desk, staring at an email from Dr. Gardiner stating that she would most definitely have to research Pemberley Digital to complete her independent study on time. Her body clenched at the thought of running into Darcy again.  
But to refuse meant she would need to find a new company to complete her studies. Which at this point meant not graduating until next semester. Was not running into Darcy really worth postponing her degree and not getting started with her life already? Lizzie slumped back in her chair and ran her fingers through her hair. Wasn’t she acting childish? You know, the thing she told Lydia not to be?  
Lizzie buckled down to compose the email telling Dr. Gardiner she’ll continue with the independent study. (It was pretty short.) Afterwards, Lizzie went on an internet break (no more than half an hour if she stayed away from tumblr) before she would get started on packing up her stuff. She had typed “William Darcy” into the search bar on twitter and decided against it more than once before finally hitting enter. Lizzie exhaled in relief when she saw Darcy’s tweet stating that he would be downstate for the foreseeable future. At least for the time being, she could rest assured that she wouldn’t be having any awkward meetings.

\---

A few days later, Charlotte had driven Lizzie to her new apartment. They spent the morning fooling around in the city (they had been to San Francisco before but that didn’t mean they had maxed-out their gawking at one of America’s largest and most famous cities) and in the afternoon settled Lizzie into her apartment. After an early dinner, it was time for Charlotte to leave. She walked to the door, grabbed her jacket off the coat rack, and slid an arm through a sleeve.  
“Promise me you will keep an open mind.” Lizzie understood what Charlotte was referring to. She avoided her eyes by looking to the side of Charlotte into the apartment. There were only a few more boxes to unpack and things to rearrange before she was completely settled in.  
“You are at his company Lizzie, even if he isn’t in right now, you’re not going to be able to avoid him forever.” Charlotte had pulled both arms through her sleeves and was buttoning the front of her coat.  
“I know.” Lizzie sucked in her cheeks and sighed. “I just...” Lizzie trailed off her statement and shook her head. Charlotte nodded and placed a hand on Lizzie’s shoulder. She wasn’t going to push it. She hugged Lizzie. They rocked back and forth.  
“Aww, I’m going to miss you bestie.”  
“Me too Char.” Her voice maintained her dejection, but she was smiling. They broke the hug and Lizzie opened the door. “Call me once you’re back at Collins&Collins so I know you got back okay.”  
“Will do, Mrs. Bennet.” Lizzie squinted her eyes and (halfly) fake huffed. Charlotte chuckled. “Later Lizzie!” She walked out the door.  
“Bye Charlotte!” Lizzie waved and waited in the doorway until Charlotte got inside her car (which by some good fortune was nearly in front of the apartment so she didn’t have to walk far) and drove off. Lizzie watched Charlotte’s car until it was out of sight, and she closed the door. She turned around and stared all around at the apartment she was to house-sit. For the next two months, this small place that was filled with boxes and fixtures that belonged to the actual tenant would be her home. The thought made her stomach twist with both nervous and overwhelming excitement. She spent the rest of the day unpacking boxes and preparing for her study on Pemberley Digital.


	2. Tour Leader Gigi

In hindsight, she really should have guessed that her tour guide was Gigi Darcy. Even if Lizzie ignored the slip ups Gigi made while giving her tour of Pemberley Digital, Gigi looks so similar to her brother. While Lizzie’s been told by some people that they wouldn’t have guessed that she and her sisters were related by their looks except for their ginger hair, Gigi and Darcy have the same noses, hair color, raised their eyebrows in the same manner, and everything.

But looking over the footage from that day, Lizzie didn’t know what to make of Gigi. LIzzie has insulted her brother so many times in videos for all of the internet to see. Yet, Gigi was being so friendly to her, calling her over to eat whenever she saw her in the dining hall (the only dining hall that Lizzie has been in that could be described as “astounding”), and stopping by her desk during office hours to chat and suss out if she needed anything. Gigi was almost being too nice, to the point that Lizzie was beginning to wonder if she was feigning friendliness.

She wondered if Gigi was planning to one day catch her off guard, kidnap her, and roast her over the fires of Mount Doom with an apple in her mouth. She wondered if Gigi would cackle while live tweeting the event (And Lizzie still wasn’t sure what female villains twirled instead of mustaches). 

But... Lizzie looked around the apartment. Since she was house-sitting it still had many fixtures like two couches, a desk, a fridge, and hung pictures that made it homey. The apartment was also small (city apartments aren’t cheap afterall), but the loneliness that had been hitting her was immense. Charlotte, Jane, everyone was leaving her and even now, when she was the one leaving them, the feelings of melancholy and solitude didn’t seem to change. In fact, they intensened. She returned her gaze to her computer screen. At least William Darcy was a constant in her life. Even if he was the one person who she wanted to leave her life.

She wouldn’t blame Gigi if she did try to roast Lizzie over a spit, but none of Gigi’s cordiality seemed fake. Lizzie’s options for friends were limited. Charlotte was too far to visit often, Fitz was up for hanging out but he wouldn’t be able to for another two weeks, and she didn’t know anyone else in the city. Maybe having a Darcy in her life wouldn’t be so bad?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I meant to post more chapters a few days ago after I got all my school work done with, but then I decided to wait for Thursday's episode... and then I got more school work. I promise I will upload all the chapters soon, maybe not before the series ends, but before the end of next month definitely!


	3. Trapped in Apprehension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The formatting is a little better on this one but it could still use some work. :/ Otherwise, I'm happy with this chapter.

Lizzie twirled a lock of hair around a finger as she spoke on her cellphone. “Hey Char, I think I’m going to edit the videos for awhile.”  
“Actually I had to talk to you about that. Collins&Collins has an internet retreat coming up, so you were going to have to be alone with the videos when it hits.” Lizzie furrowed a brow.  
“Internet retreat? But you’re an internet-based company.”  
“Yeah, I thought it sounded weird too, but Mr. Collins is going to a mini conference and Ms. DeBurgh wants to do some restructuring with the organization of Collins&Collins. So we’re taking a company-wide break from the internet to get it done. I’m not going to get into the gory details, but it’s pretty sound coming from Mrs. DeBurgh.” Lizzie grinned.  
“You really don’t like Mrs. DeBurgh.”  
“I don’t hate her, but let’s just say I don’t appreciate that the first episode I was invited to watch of Game of Gourds was the one where they managed to splatter pumpkin on everyone.”  
Lizzie made the closest onomatopoeia sound she could of someone taking a sledgehammer to a forty pound pumpkin. If they weren’t talking over the phone, Charlotte would have seen the atom bomb motion that Lizzie simultaneously did with her hands. Charlotte chuckled.  
“You kid, but it took a week to get all the pumpkin out.”  
“Yikes.” They both laughed. As their conversation quickly moved on from the subject of the videos, Lizzie breathed an inner sigh of relief. She needed to take some time to think about what she was putting in her next video.  
Because although she hadn’t replayed this footage over and over as many times as the video of Darcy’s confession, she was coming close. She really didn’t want to publish that footage of her and Darcy meeting for the first time in months. But she knew Gigi would never let her hear the end of it if she didn’t, and she would have to watch her every step until Gigi got her payback. Besides, the viewers weren’t being subtle about the tizzy they were in now that Lizzie was at Pemberley Digital. If Gigi told them what happened and that she had footage of them that she didn’t upload, she’d definitely never hear the end of it.  
But yet, looking through the footage of their meeting required pausing and a few watch-throughs with her hands on her face, having to peek past her fingers. The meeting was so short and it wasn’t actually embarrassing that Lizzie shouldn’t feel so apprehensive about publishing it. But it was awkward, so awkward.  
Lizzie was already jittery from the fact that she was going to meet up with her professor, but seeing Darcy that evening had brought it all out. She winced at the her fast-paced, high-pitched speaking. She raised her eyebrows at the stutter she suddenly developed. She cringed even more when she saw her jerky and curt movements. She blushed when she noticed Darcy’s pelvis slightly move towards her as he said her name. Lizzie praised her good luck that the camera did not catch their faces, remembering how wide and bugged-out her eyes must have became when she saw him. She could go on and on about everything that made her want to become the Wicked Witch of the West and melt away into a puddle of nothingnness.  
And watching the footage made Lizzie realize, that contrary to their past and personalities, she was the one being the most awkward out of the two. Darcy may have been caught off guard, but he had home field advantage. He had an air of relaxation about him, so relaxed that his usual hipster outfit was replaced with a rare normal shirt and tie combo. Nor was his hair as perfectly in place, and he had a light scent of cologne that wafted toward Lizzie as they sat, and if she continued this train of thought she would have to admit that he is well, hot. She was going to ignore that and not think about Darcy’s smile and the way she checked him out as she forwarded the clip.  
And Gigi. Even if she was awash in scrutinizing her interactions with Darcy, Lizzie didn’t miss Gigi’s delighted face of fangirling excitement when she shoved Darcy into the room (a similar expression to the one that Maria often wore after coming off the computer). Lizzie slightly praised the fact that Gigi was terrible at covering up her schemes because even if she wasn’t prepared for what happened, it gave Lizzie the vaguest hint that something was going down. (Lizzie also briefly considered if there was a pipeline to Mount Doom she could use but decided against it.)  
“The hills in this c-city can be quite unforgiving, “ Darcy stuttered, bringing Lizzie’s mind back to the clip playing in front of her. It was a practical repetition of a line that Gigi has said on the diaries. Lizzie knew there was a possibility that Darcy was still watching the videos, and that had pretty much confirmed it. But why? Was he a masochist? What did he think of the videos now? (In truth, Darcy hadn't cared and didn't care about all the insults. They stung, but there were truths in them that he had been confronting, and she amended for their harshness as well as one could expect her to in her situation. He had already known that Lizzie was coming to study at Pemberley Digital so while he was caught off guard when he saw that Lizzie was present in the room that evening, it was no surprise. What did come as a surprise was the smile that sprung up on his face when he saw Lizzie and would hardly contain itself for the rest of their meeting, and the rush of happiness that he felt in his gut that always appeared whenever he dared to let himself dwell on the fact that he might soon see Lizzie again.)  
“Have a good day, Darcy.” And then there was her stupid arm touch. He had made a hand movement that made her think he was going to go for a handshake but decided against it, and she didn’t want to seem rude so she went to go for it, but somehow it turned into an arm grab. Lizzie put her elbow on the desk and a hand to her forehead. What the heck, Lizzie, seriously.  
The footage soon after stopped, but Lizzie’s memory continued. She remembered Darcy trying to open the door but there was a weight that was preventing its opening. Darcy rolled his eyes.  
“Open the door, Gigi.” He tried forcing the handle down-and-out but Gigi had put her entire bodily force into keeping the door closed. A laugh was heard beyond the door.  
“Gigi, I need to go. I’m already going to be late.” She opened the door. Gigi grinned widely when she saw the both of them, even if she realized how busted and in trouble she was going to be. Lizzie had given her a short stare and then, as politely as possible without making herself even later with meeting Dr. Gardiner, excused herself to rush towards the elevator down the hall.  
As the elevator doors opened she heard Gigi loudly whisper, “How’d it go” to Darcy.  
If he gave a reply, she didn’t hear it. It was this question that resounded in her head throughout the entire dinner meeting with Dr. Gardiner. Because despite how awkward and uncomfortable it was... if she was asked to answer this question, the truth would be that it honestly went better than she expected.


	4. Vlogging at Pember-Lee?

Lizzie hadn’t recorded a video from the apartment yet, and frankly, she didn’t feel right doing so.  Each day that passed she spent more time at Pemberley Digital than at the place where she was house-sitting, that she felt more comfortable taping at Pemberley than the apartment.  Besides, Lizzie would often get back from Pemberley when it was dark outside meaning she would have to set up the lighting herself.  Why do that when she could record during a break hour at Pemberley where the windows filtered in a lot of natural lighting during the day?  (Ahh, the logistical problems of vlogging.)  And that’s not to mention that recording videos seemed to be an acceptable norm at Pemberley Digital, as Lizzie had seen more than one employee doing so for their own projects.

And so, Lizzie had finished lunch early and _literally_ just turned on the camera to speak about about Northanger Innovations, the third company from England she was also studying for her independent study, and a funny dialect difference that caused a mishap in her study of their company.  But then, Bing Lee showed up.

“I’m really bad at keeping up with people.”  Lizzie couldn’t help but smile when she saw her reaction to this in post.  But honestly, she freaked out when she saw Bing Lee (who again, should be in class).  Lizzie has been on edge ever since she posted the footage of him and Jane, waiting for the moment Bing finds out about her videos and blow up on her.  Even if she didn’t get his express permission to post clips of him online, he wasn’t portrayed as anything but a sweet guy.  At first.  But now, she’s just glad Bing has a nice enough disposition to commence the murder in her sleep.

****\---** **

“He wouldn’t have been the perfect guy for Jane.  At least, Old Jane.”  The footage ended.  Would Jane see this video?  She hoped not.  She knew Jane was way more busy than she let on when Lizzie hadn’t received a care package upon her move to San Francisco.  But even though Jane was moving on, it was an unspoken agreement that Bing Lee was a subject that she didn’t want to dwell on.  Lizzie fluttered her eyes upward in thought.  How hard would it be on Jane seeing Lizzie talk to Bing?  Would Jane be upset that it totally slipped Lizzie’s mind to ask why he scuttled out of town without a single word?  (Oops.)  Lizzie bit her lip and turned on the camera.

“Jane, I know you haven’t been watching my videos...” She recorded a warning label for her.  Because as upsetting it might be for Jane to see Bing, and as upset Bing might get at Lizzie for posting a not-so-flattering conversation between them on the internet, Lizzie felt that their conversation actually raised a good point.

How _do_ you know that a person isn’t going to screw you over before you get in deep with them?  Lizzie used to be good at meeting people and making good judgements of their character.  Or so she thought.  Now, she wasn’t so sure she could trust her first impressions so easily.  

Bing Lee was a good example of this.  He has subverted both of Lizzie’s first impressions (if you counted Lizzie’s descriptions of him before she had even meet the guy as a first impression), and Lizzie wondered all the more as time went on, what kind of person is Bing Lee, really?

 

 


	5. New Media and New Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. Firstly, I must apologize for being late with this one. I meant to finish this by the end of May, I was having a lot of trouble with this chapter that I just had to let some time go by before I looked at it to fix it. But I should have put up a note saying it was going to be late, and for that I'm sorry. Rest assured that though it's taking longer than I originally planned, I WILL finish this story. I promise. :)
> 
> Secondly, enjoy! This chapter gave me a lot of trouble, but in the end I think it has turned out well. (And it's pretty long.)

Darcy left the room.  Lizzie hooked up her camera to her laptop to look at what had been recorded.  She leaned her head on a fist as she watched.

 

****\---** **

“Nothing like a little costume theater to focus the mind.  But, costume theater requires someone to costume theater with-”  Well, that wasn’t strictly true.  Lizzie had done costume theater by herself before via jump cuts, but it was never as fun as bouncing it off someone else.  And the viewers seemed to really respond to Jane’s Darcy.  

“What am I supposed to do, roam the halls looking for someone to put in my videos?”  Lizzie smirked as she saw herself pause, consider the thought, twerk a finger upwards, tilt it towards the camera, and get up to go into the hallway.  She didn’t plan on going too far riding the corridors. There weren’t many employees around now that it was after hours, but maybe Gigi would be around, as Gigi’s office was surprisingly not a long walk away from Lizzie’s office (something Lizzie suspected was Gigi’s doing.  Gigi had made sure that Lizzie’s office was nice, especially as she said it was a “temporary office until they could move her into something better”.  Lizzie assured Gigi that she would be happy with any space that they gave her, but Gigi doesn’t take no for an answer).  She had mentioned that the costume theater segments were some of her favorite moments, and if Lizzie thought of a good sketch, she would _totally_ be up for it.

But it seemed today Gigi was nowhere to be found.  As she took one last sweep through (to make sure that there really wasn’t _anyone_ around), she did bump into someone.  Him.  William Darcy.  Ever since Gigi’s beartrap scheme, Lizzie’s had a few brief encounters with Darcy when she sat in on meetings, and they—if nothing else—could exchange pleasantries and be civil.  And though Gigi may have been the first to be (overly) helpful to Lizzie in settling her in, Darcy did small things here and there to make Lizzie feel at home and comfortable (he had decided that he wouldn’t do anything big, because A). he neither had the time, and B). didn’t want to make her feel even more awkward about their whole situation).  But, still there was an overriding sense of floundering and blundering in their relationship as they weren’t sure where each stood with the other (Lizzie wasn’t sure where Darcy stood within herself), but if you had to ask, they counted the other as acquaintances.

Lizzie narrowed her eyes watching the footage.  Good god, were they really standing so close?  It didn’t seem that way when they were in the hallway, but in the video they were nearly toe-to-toe.

“Lizzie, may I help you?”  Her camera could make what they were saying from that far away?  Wow, Charlotte wasn’t kidding when she said to splurge that extra $100.

“I’m looking for your sister.”

“She’s at tennis practice.”  Oh.  Lizzie bent her head.  She kind of wanted to see Gigi do it, if only once.  Guess that would have to wait for another day.  Darcy spoke again, breaking her out of her reverie.  “Did you need something?”  

“Umm...”  Lizzie looked at him and rolled her knee.  She needed to film a video, and if she wasn’t going to come up with a new idea, she needed someone’s help to do it.  He was asking her if she needed help, the only catch is, would he be up for it?  
“Maybe” she said with a questioning intonation, turning her head to look inside the office.

Darcy followed Lizzie’s gaze into her office and saw her camera.

“Filming a diary?”  Lizzie gave a small smile and nodded her head.  He considered this for a moment.  “I can spare some time if you need me to assist.”  He strided into the room.  Lizzie halted, taken aback by how easily he agreed, but she quickly followed (not wanting him to back out because her hesitation).  He waited for her to come in and closed the door.

She settled into her seat as he looked for a spot—the desk—to place the folder he had been carrying.  As he sat, Lizzie realized that _William Darcy_ was in her office.  No matter what she said to rationalize this, her viewers were going to go nuts.  He cleared his throat and looked at her to begin.  Lizzie kept her stare at the camera.

“So I roamed the halls to find someone with whom I could record a video, and this is who I found.”  Lizzie did a under-exaggerated Vanna White wave, and Darcy gave a small smile of acknowledgement towards the camera and turned towards her.  Lizzie’s inhale for how to introduce the next part created a static-y sound on playback.

“So, what are we filming?”  Lizzie turned and looked at him.  His blue eyes, again,  focusing their entire attention on her.  Maybe this was a bad idea.

“You’re sure you want to do this?  Because I can wait for when I next see Gigi.”  He furrowed his eyebrows.  

“Is there a reason I should be apprehensive?”  Well gee, there’s only fact that I’ve insulted you how many times for the entire internet to witness, Lizzie thought.

“Uhh, we would be doing costume theater.”

“Oh.”  He turned his face away from Lizzie.  She frowned.  This was a bad idea.

“Really, you don’t have to, “ Lizzie quickly began.  “Gigi wanted to do some costume theater anyways.”  

“No...”  He moved his head towards Lizzie again.  The room was silent.  He wasn’t getting out of his seat and leaving the scenario, but it needed to be clear that he was okay with this.

“Soooo, you’ll do it, “ she asked.  Darcy needed little convincing.  He had been thus far successful in his resolution to maintain a professional relationship with Lizzie while she was at Pemberley, but he wanted to talk to Lizzie, like _really_ talk to Lizzie, even if what she had to say would end up hurting him.  He wasn’t going to ignore their past, and he knew _now_ that Lizzie didn’t like him, but this was the first time they had been alone in a room together since she officially started her study at PD, and if he was never going to get a chance to see Lizzie again after this, he wanted them to end on decent terms.  Which would require them to talk and get a little more personal than their current safe pleasantries.  Perhaps costume theater wasn’t ideal, but it was an opening and he was going for it.  This was good news for Lizzie because she had been wanting to confront him about Bing—among other things—but she didn’t know how to initiate that conversation.

But maybe this wasn’t the way to do it?  Lizzie tensed as she prepared herself to watch the next part.  “Look, there’s this theory about levels of mediation in media that says it’s possible for artificiality to both remind the audience that what they’re seeing is a construction while, at the same time, adding to their level of immersion.  I thought... forget it.  It’s stupid.”  It was stupid.  Not only was doing costume theater with Darcy after using it to mock him so many times stupid, but it was stupid to talk theory with him in areas that he had actual experience in.  After seeing Darcy commanding company meetings with ease, she should feel hesitant to talk mediation theory with him.  This is _his_ field.  It seemed... pretentious.

But Darcy jumped in, he wasn’t going to let this drop so easily.  “You thought that costume theater, as ourselves, would remind the audience that what they’re seeing isn’t a conversation that we would naturally have, but because of that, the obviously constructed nature of the scene by it’s very own artificiality would create it’s own sense of verisimilitude.”  Lizzie blinked and stared at him.  Somehow, he had parsed what she meant to say and stated it in a way that made perfect sense.  It was scary, but somehow also good?  Perhaps the weirdest part was how eerily similar it was to Dr. Gardiner’s lectures.

And so he implicitly agreed to do it, and left.  As she was left alone, she gave a small forced smile towards the camera.  Lizzie fast forwarded through the minutes of footage where she waited for him to come back (more of which than she would admit were spent mentally rehearsing what line she would start with).  At nearly fifteen minutes, Lizzie had been wondering if “excuse me” was just code for no and he had politely chickened-out, but then a double knock on the door and he was back.  Wearing a Newsie hat and bow tie.   _A Newsie hat and bow tie._  Lizzie’s mouth fell open, both in the video and watching.  

“It was the closest I could find on short notice.”   _No kidding._  He was really doing this.  And he was ok with it.  He should have flat-out said no, but he was smiling—as much as Darcy allows himself to smile—and poking fun at the whole thing.   _Alrighty then_ , Lizzie thought.  She grabbed her plaid shirt.

“Do you have a script for this?”  
“Nope, I figured we’d wing it.”  She had momentarily considered writing a script when she was waiting for him to come back, but decided that whatever came out of Darcy’s mouth needed to be his own words, and not anything she put there.  She put on the shirt and it was go time.  But then she felt his eyes once again boring their focus on her.  

“Whydidn’tyoutellBingaboutmyvideos?”  This was not last time Lizzie cringed while editing her videos, but it was the last time Lizzie did it so exaggeratedly.

“Well, I didn’t think it was my place.  You’ve respected my confidences after all.”

“Really, what about when Charlotte and I-”

“If I knew a Darvid, perhaps he would feel differently.”  That makes three jokes from Darcy in one conversation.  He seemed rather pleased about the line, but Lizzie wasn’t as amused.

“Uhh, he sort of thought you would tell him.”

“Would you want your best friend to see you confess to meddling in his affairs?”  Lizzie cocked her head.  
“I think he knows you meddle in his affairs.”  Darcy had never given much thought that Bing might realize that he gives him more advice than he ought to.  But knowing Bing, he rationalized that it was usually necessary.

“Perhaps.  But by your own admission, Jane has moved on with her life.”  
“That’s true.”  Even if Jane missed Bing, Lizzie her doubts that “New Jane” would want to have him back, or that she even had the time for navigating and figuring out a relationship with him.  And Lizzie certainly had her apprehensions if Bing would try going back to Jane.  
“And if Bing truly felt a strong attachment, would he really have been so easily parted from her?”

“Isn’t finding happiness hard enough?  Why is it your job, or my job, or anyone else’s job to test the strength of their relationship?”  This gave Darcy even more pause.  He answered the question (albeit it was rhetorical one) with another.

“If Bing were to learn the true nature of Jane’s feelings and seek her out, do you think she would take him back?”  Lizzie watched as she met eyes with Darcy, fastening their entire focus on her until it pierced right through her.  She quickly looked to the side.  Lizzie could remembered very clearly the question that popped up in her mind at that moment.   _Who are you really was asking about here?_

“I’m honestly not sure.”

“Then perhaps more meddling, even with the best of intentions would only cause them both more pain.”  Lizzie sighed.  It was a hard statement to hear, but it was true.

“Do you think Bing still cares about Jane?”  The conversation was definitely not just about Bing and Jane anymore.  Darcy inhaled and took off the hat.

“I think... you should ask him.”  And there they ended.  Lizzie was going to say something more—though what she wasn’t sure what as her brain had suddenly decided to focus on how kissable his lips looked—but yeah, that was enough.  

And now watching the ending, was she being harsh in telling that he could leave?  She didn’t mean to kick him out, but seeing it on film made her wonder if it came off rude.  She noticed the way he left, keeping his sight on her as long as possible before he really did have to leave.   Clearly he wanted to stay.  But maybe it was better that he left when he did because Lizzie had a lot to think about.  Lizzie sighed and leaned back in her seat, developing a cramp from scrutinizing the footage in her previous posture.  Maybe she would take a break before editing.  There was a lot to absorb.

And that’s when she spotted it.  On the corner of her desk was the file that Darcy had been carrying with him, and completely forgot to take.  Lizzie grabbed the folder and glanced through it.  It didn’t look too important—just a regular old business report—but regardless he would probably want this back as soon as possible.  Lizzie inhaled, exhaled, and stood up to march herself to the elevator.  After some minutes she was checking-in with Mrs. Reynolds who greeted her warmly and said that Darcy was in right now if she could just give to him directly and oh, did she want to go to the budget report meeting this week, and, before she could take in the whole situation, Lizzie found herself knocking on William Darcy’s office door.

“Come in Reynolds, “ he said.  She gently opened the door and entered.  She had been in his office once before during Gigi’s tour, and it was a beautiful space.  Though it was largely devoid of any decoration that wasn’t typical of an office setting beyond the comfy chairs (Gigi had made her test them out), it was a tall room with nice large windows that had a gorgeous city view (which rich people seem to always have).  It was perfectly arranged, and perfectly Darcy.

The small sound of tapping filled the room as Darcy had been sitting at his desk, working with his laptop and spread out sheets of paper.  He wore glasses and a serious face, but upon Lizzie’s entrance it softened and his eyebrows heightened.

“Lizzie, hello, “ he croaked out, not expecting her to be there.  When he looked back on this moment later in the day, he wasn’t sure what he had been expecting as to her reason for her being there.  But it was not nearly so filled with the thousands of possibilities as it turned out to be.  She held up the folder she had been clutching at her side.

“You left this, I figured I should return it as soon as possible.”

“Oh.”  He swallowed.  “I’m sorry that I forgot it.”  (Actually, this wasn’t true.  Darcy remembered he left it as soon as he started walking down the hallway to go to his office, but he figured that he could ask about it later, and no damn it, he wasn’t too embarrassed to go back to Lizzie so soon after that conversation.)  He got up from his chair and walked over to Lizzie.  She handed him the file and he took it, going back to his desk and putting the contents in the appropriate groupings.  “Thank you, I did need these.”  

A smile grew on Lizzie’s face.  “Glad I could help.”  When Lizzie didn’t move to leave, Darcy looked back up at her, unsure what Lizzie still wanted:   _Does she need something?  Does she think I’m an ignoramus for forgetting this file—of course.  Does she want to redo the video?  Was my performance, that really wasn’t even a performance, that bad?  God, does she know how beautiful she can look just staring at a person?_

But Lizzie was thinking was how _forlorn_ Darcy looked.  Throughout this entire conversation Darcy had been looking at her like he wanted to say more.  It was a look he constantly wore.  Ever since Lizzie had rejected him, he always looked like he wanted to say more, but was restraining himself.  And you know what, Lizzie could feel the same look on her face.  Only Lizzie doesn’t do subduing emotions.

“Umm...”  

“Yes” he asked softly.  Ok, maybe being brave would have to wait for another day.

“I don’t think I said thank you.”  And then she quickly added, “For filming that video with me.”  Darcy’s heart went back to a normal speed as he heard what it was she said.

He smiled politely.  “You’re welcome, Lizzie.”

“I’m actually still in a bit of a shock that you did it.”  He quirked an eyebrow.  “The costume?”  His chin retracted to his neck before replying.

“As the expression goes, ‘all or nothing.’”

“Though the glasses would have made it even better.”  He stared at her for a moment, confused.

“These,” he asked, gesturing to the pair on his head and taking them off.  He grasped them in his hand, as if to hide them.  “They’re mainly for reading.  Though I don’t use them much.  Wearing glasses too often is detrimental for your vision.”

“Hmm, I didn’t know that.  They’re cool.”

“Thank you.”  Darcy suddenly filed away a mental note of finding a time to wear them around Lizzie again.  And then he glanced downwards, slightly shaking his head at himself.  He was losing it.  He didn’t want to hang on Lizzie’s every word and movement and expression, but it was a hard thing to maintain.  He had never fallen for a person as hard as he had for Lizzie.

“What, “ Lizzie asked, confused.

“Nothing.”  (Well really, everything.)  Lizzie turned her head as if to ask for explanation, but Darcy wasn’t telling, and once she realized that, she politely smiled.  And there nothing else to say.

“I just came to drop off the folder, so I'll leave now, as you must have work to get to.”  Darcy quickly glanced at all the paperwork on his desk.  He didn’t think he was going to be able to get much work done after seeing Lizzie in his office so unexpectedly.  But, he sat down and put on the glasses.

“I do.  See you, Lizzie, “ he said sending her off.  She smiled.

“See you, Darcy.”  She walked to the door, and closed it.  Though Reynolds tried to conceal it, Lizzie saw her smile as she walked past and left to go back to her office.  She didn't try to prevent her attitude.  She had to finish editing the video and think.


End file.
